One of the funny things, I think, about my strengths is that they are often contradictory. One of my teachers in high school once told me that I was the calmest, most focused person she knew. I think this is absolutely hilarious because I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. I believe something important to consider when thinking about other people’s assets and strength is that things are rarely what they appear to be. Often people’s greatest strengths are connected to their biggest weaknesses. These are the things they struggle with by nature, are forced to face repeatedly and put effort into most likely on a regular basis. In many cases this causes them to become strengths.
It took me a little bit of the time to really understand my strengths finder results. Now that I do I’m pretty happy with them. My fifth strength, which at first I was angry that it was not higher up, is Learner. I’d probably say it’s my favorite of my five strengths. I proudly call myself a Ravenclaw. I love learning new things, even if they are not seen as “useful” in the long run, I love learning for learning sake. This makes me enthusiastic to learn about the issues that communities face and how I can learn new skills to help them. I am a patient attentive listener and enthusiastic participant. One of my other skill is Strategic. This means I am really good at creative problem solving. My enthusiasm for learning allows me to look both at the big picture and in the minor details for solutions. I am very direct in my communication style and am comfortable giving and receiving criticism when it comes to alternative plans. The tree questions I almost always ask myself first when facing a problem is “What do I need? What can I do? What do I have?” This logic can also be extended to large groups facing a problem. Another one of my strengths is Connectedness. This is my top strength. This is another one that I didn’t understand right away. I thought it was feeling connected to other people, which I sometimes struggle with, but it’s actually making connections between ideas. This, I think for me, is particularly forthcoming when it comes to problem solving. One part of the description stands out to me, “Chances are good that you sense that everything in life is somehow interrelated and interdependent. This idea steels – that is, fortifies – you to calmly face most of life’s challenges and difficulties. Driven by your talents, you may be able to accept unpredictable events in your life on the sheer basis of faith.” This really speaks to me. My third strength is Belief. Now this is one I struggled with a little bit. I am religious or at least I try to be, but I feel like that’s not why this ended up in my top five strengths. It made so much more sense when I read the paragraph explanation about Belief. It talks about wanting to help people and make their lives better. The description talks about working tirelessly toward these goals. The statement that stands out most to me is “You are hardwired to isolate the issues that lie ahead.” Which resonates with me lately because I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and stressing about my future, academically, professionally and personally. My fourth strength is Developer. This means I can and want to see the strengths of others. I want to help them discover develop these strengths. I try to find something that I like about everyone I know or meet. For most people it’s actually not that hard. There are some though that require lots of searching and thought, but I am up to the challenge. It genuinely excites me to see other succeed, which makes me a great cheerleader. I do think this is another strong component of my overall enthusiasm that I bring to nearly everything that I do. I believe that the things I do and say matter and have lasting impact. Another thing I really pride myself on though it’s not one of my strength is my impulse to continually improve in everything that I do and in all areas of my life.
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AuthorMy name is Paige Dinneny. I am a sophomore at Virginia Tech and a first year member of SERVE. Archives
December 2016
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